Pam R

I will be in Fargo and Grand Forks (and maybe Detroit Lakes) in the next couple of weeks and I'd love some restaurant suggestions. I'd love a non-chain, non-burger choice. Please. I'm willing to cross state lines and head to East GF or Moorhead. I'm hoping that including Fargo will mean a flood of suggestions will come pouring in. Though I won't be going anywhere else on this trip, feel free to include any other suggestions in the state (or Northwestern Minnesota).

Rob - thanks for starting this topic and for the great review! I am always on the lookout for great books (especially pastry) and this one will be ordered straight away. Is the fried custard sitting in . . more custard? It looks luscious.

I contact companies all the time for business. Usually by email. I get all types of responses - from nothing at all, to very helpful, detailed answers. There are a couple of companies that I've emailed a couple of times, received nothing in return and followed it up with a phone call. You can often get a faster response with a phone call.

I've had a hard time navigating my way through the Canadian Government websites. From the Canadian Diabetes Association (which is pretty much what it said on a government site, word for word): I *think* this means that even small companies will need to have full nutritional labels by the end of the year. In fact, when I bought a scale late last year, the companies I went to all said that they were under the impression that stores producing their own food for take-out will have to have these labels on all items soon - like a deli counter. (That's why the scales are now capable of printing these labels.) Again, the government agency I'm contacting should have more info on this.

These are all points we need to consider. I've contacted the FDC that I mentioned above to get more information and set up a meeting. I won't do anything without making sure I understand all of the issues before. I do feel like I have a sense of the market and price points. I have personal experience in food retail, and I have great sources for info.

Darn! I never go down 59. When I go to the States, I always take 42. Pehaps the little gas station just south of the border on 42 has some, too! ← You can find them if you take #29 (Pembina) as well. I can't recall where, but they are in stores in ND/MN. They're just a great "Welcome to the USofA" snack. In the city, I've seen them at Shoppers Drug Mart on Keewatin - but that's a few years ago. I'll check my local SDM next time I'm in. (I love them, but I really try NOT to find them - if you know what I mean.)

Ladies. There is a gas station on the US side of the border on HWY #59. They have them. They are highly addictive and on one hand I'm thankful that they are incredibly hard to find here. On the other hand, it makes me sad.

This is the only way I can judge a dressing. Tasting it off a spoon is meaningless for me. I generally do 2:1, but balsamic is more like 1.5:1. That 4:1 thing is too oily for me.

I left the pickles on the counter from Friday evening until yesterday (Tuesday) morning. Tried one this morning (mmm. . . breakfast) and it wasn't done enough for my taste. I knew I was a fully sour girl. Is it safe to pull it out and set it on the counter for another couple of days? They're also a little salty - I'll have to adjust that.

Kerry - check Rogers sugar. According to sugar.ca, Rogers operates the only beet processing plant in the country (Taber, Alberta ). I'm pretty sure there used to be a plant in southern Manitoba as well. I went to university in a sugar-beet-processing town and passed another two sugar plants in North Dakota and Minnesota on the drive home from university. I think they were Crystal Sugar. I doubt you'll be able to find it in Ontario, but if you're across the border . . .

I'm not sure somebody else has to foot the bill for all of those things, nor do I think I have to be wealthy. The FDC that I linked to above is a government organization that is there to help people get products ready for mass production. But they are not for profit. There may also be some funding available - but that will take a little more research. As for getting things into stores - well, first of all, I have a store. Second, I have a good relationship with at least 4 national distributors. I plan on phoning the FDC tomorrow to get more information and hope to take a trip out to see the facility in the near future. I'll also get in touch with two of my suppliers. One is new(ish) and looking for good products to distribute. The other may have mentioned that they had a production facility themselves. (though I may be wrong on that) I also remembered today that we used to be members of the Manitoba Food Processors Association. There could be a lot of good information available through them. Having said that - starting small does seem like a reasonable idea. One, maybe two products to start. All of this testing and work costs money (hourly rates). Our labelling laws in Canada are quite strict, and I know that it costs a lot to get a nutritional label done for each product. And then it has to be bilingual. But I'm getting way ahead of myself. First, more info. is needed.

Tracey - do. It was really good. Thanks, Susan! I remember that topic. I'm pretty sure my heat was too high for the entire cooking period. It was a little light on the smoky flavour - but still excellent. I need a new thermometer.

Grapefruit arrived yesterday. I haven't tried it yet. But the other new flavour is Cranberry/Lime. Awesome.

I've done a little poking around since posting earlier. I found this site. It's a link to the Food Development Centre in my province. I'm going to contact them to see if I can get some more information. (I'd like to know about fees, requirements, etc.) Kate - Have you really considered this? Looked into it at all?

What goes into a watermelon pickle? (Yes, I'm still waiting for my pickling books to arrive.)

We make some really good salad dressing. Years ago we went to the trouble of having a couple of our recipes tested to see if they could be made shelf-stable, but nothing ever came of it. I've seriously been thinking about this lately. What is involved in getting a product tested, bottled and to market. I know that there is a testing facility in my province. They will test the recipes and work with you to alter them. But then what? Are there companies that will take my recipes, produce and package them? Is it possible to do this without sinking a lot of money into it? (I realize money will be involved, but can I do this without producing 1,000,000 bottles of Pam's Secret Zingy Cole Slaw Dressing?) Has anybody done this? Any thoughts or suggestions on what to do? I really don't know where to get started or even if this is a viable idea. What do you think?

Anna - I've served a similar garnish on cakes here and it's relatively dry.But I still had to be careful about how I stored the pieces and how early they were placed on the cake. Having been in your country, I understand that the humidity will be a major issue (heck, I melted - never mind the sugar!). The only thing I can suggest is making the caramel and storing them in an air-tight container until you're ready to serve. B'hatzlachah.

First big salad of the summer. Looking over the 4 pages of posts, it seems this is my standard composed salad. But I do enjoy it, so I'm OK with that.

Here it is, ready to go on the Weber. It was rubbed, then left, uncovered, in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. My thermometer, it turns out, needs replacing. So I had no idea how hot the grill was. It was hotter than I wanted and things went much faster than I anticipated. I pulled it off the grill after 3 1/2 - 4 hours. A meat probe told me that it was 169 degrees. It was wonderful. Tender and tasted great. The rub added great flavour to the roast, but I didn't get as much smokiness as I usually do (heat too high? - less time on the smoker?). There wasn't a prominent smoke ring either. But it was sooo moist. There's no question the chuck is a better option than the shoulder. Now I'm going to try to get one with the bone in it.

I saw it when I was down in the States last month, but honestly, it scared me. I couldn't figure out how the flavours would work with the cola flavour - I guess they don't. Thanks for taking one for the team.

In the spirit of great minds thinking alike . . . These aren't the 'right' cucumbers. I had to cut them into approximately 8 pieces (4 quarters that were each cut diagonally in half) to get them to fit into two 500 mL jars. I did these Friday after work, and I'm going to open them up and taste tonight. By Saturday, they sure smelled like pickles. And they've slowly been changing colour. If they're good tonight I'll put them in the fridge.

Your roasts look great. This is a small one, about 3 - 3 1/2 lbs. I'm assuming it won't take as long to cook. As you've tied yours, I feel better about leaving the netting on.

For some reason, I wasn't thinking sweet at all. But I think they'd make a great marmalade. Has anybody made marmalade with Splenda and pectin? Will it work? They aren't kumquats, but I can see how they might appear to be. They have a much . . . sweeter sourness (I know that makes no sense, but I'm not sure how to describe it) than any kumquats I've had. Plus, the skin seems to be thinner. It's hard to take one of the oranges off the tree without some of the skin pulling off of the orange (which you can see in the picture).

I have a miniature orange tree that lives in my kitchen, by the window. It thrives there, year-round. The first picture was taken a few days ago, after harvesting about a dozen oranges. The second picture illustrates how small they are, fully grown (that's a dollar coin). Problem is, once they're picked I don't know what to do with them. If you haven't tried them, they are very, very tart. But they also have a lovely, citrus flavour. I'm thinking they'd make a nice vinaigrette, maybe a marinade for beef? Though I'm not sure how easy it would be to juice the little suckers. Anybody cooking with them? What are you making?

Now I have a chuck roast thawing: As the label says, it's a boneless chuck eye fillet. 1.618 kilos. It's thawing now, I'm going to put a rub of some sort on it tomorrow and then smoke Saturday or Sunday. Should I remove the netting? I'm concerned about what I'll find if I do - it may be a little ragged and uneven. I wish I had one with the bone . My theory is that this will have a little more fat marbling than the shoulder. Anybody ever smoke a chuck roast?